Market Theocracy

Steven Brust has written a novel length Firefly story. A free download under the Creative Commons license.

Brust is a professional writer, very respected in SF/Fantasy circles.

My Own Kind Of Freedom

My review:

Overall, I’d give this (very short) novel an A-. The tone and voice of the characters are very nearly spot on, there are no major lapses in characterization from what we know and love, and the story abounds with the lovely interweaving of comedy, tragedy, action and pathos that made Firefly our favorite show.

Brust’s admitted socialist sympathies don’t really raise their idealogical head. He does what a writer should when tackling characters that have a life outside his own imagination and were created by the group effort of others: he allows them to be their own creations. It’s literally impossible to not imagine the actors in their respective roles. Brust’s style lends itself well to the Firefly ‘Verse — his clean, minimalistic prose and spare imagery complementing the atmosphere and sleek pace we are used to from the show. He intentionally (I assume) sticks to a very cinematic style, not overloading the reader with interior dialogue and thoughts. The story is told mainly in conversation that is light, bantering and entertaining.

Brust’s depiction of River is especially interesting and enjoyable. She is the only character that he truly goes into the head of — and that’s something most fans want, I think. Her prismatic, complex, damaged but brilliant perceptions and observations are a delight to read. He does not dispel the necessary aura of mystery around the character, he deepens and embroiders it with excellent detail.

But it is Mal’s story where the novel truly shines, especially the flashbacks of his time of war. They concern the transformation of the Browncoats from a decentralized, widely dispersed force of small units harassing their larger and richer foe into an attempt to mimic that foe with a centralized army and the bureaucracy that requires. This, the novel suggests, is the main reason the Independants lost.

My only real complaints with the novel is that Brust is a bit repetitious with his humor, and the action scenes are often somewhat muddled.

Some other minor nitpicks:

The Chinese slang is very much overused. In the show it was almost always possible to deduce the meaning from context. It is most of the time in the novel, but not always. Also, reading Chinese is different from hearing Chinese. What added an exotic, intriguing element to the show mostly comes across as a roadblock in prose.

Wash is shown to be a pilot for the Browncoats in the war. I’m pretty sure that the show inferred he had no role on either side.

These are minor complaints (my major minor complaint [ha!] would be a spoiler, so I refrain.) and in no way stop me from recommending My Own Kind Of Freedom to every Firefly fan, either obsessive or casual.

Years ago I was channel surfing late at night, and came across a black and white film playing on the local PBS station. I had missed the credits so I had no idea what the film was named or who made it. The actors were very familiar and — as I watched — their names came to me. The film was a comedy — a sort of elegant farce. Very witty and underplayed, beautifully so.

But there was something else. Despite not knowing who had directed this film there was no doubt in my mind that it was a master. The framing of every shot, the liquid grace of the cutting, the perfect balance of music and dialogue. The inventive sound work that was neither distracting nor artificial.

The film quite simply dripped quality. It glowed with the skill of whoever called the shots during its creation.

I finally fired up the ‘net and used what info I had to track it down. After a bit of effort, I succeeded.

The film was Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The director was Alfred Hitchcock.

A couple of weeks ago I chanced across Strangers On A Train during an insomnia night. I settled back for what I knew would be a lovely way to waste two hours. I’d seen it before, of course, but — with a Hitchcock film — that merely meant that I could watch it a bit closer for the subtler goodies on display.

My favorite part of Strangers has always been the party scene where Bruno very nearly strangles an elderly matron when he catches sight of Anne’s younger sister. This scene displays Hitch’s genius quite handily: with a few shots, inventive sound work, music and pure sorcery of cutting and framing, he creates an emotional crescendo that is quite hard to describe in words. It’s something that has to be experienced.

Hitchcock, to my mind, is the rarest of the rare: a celebrity artist who not only deserves his immense critical reputation but who almost cannot be overrated. His impact and effect on modern cinema is incredible. Not only did he damn near invent sound film technique, he continually improved it over his career and took it to a level near perfection. He never allowed himself to rely on a few trademark tools. In every film he pushed that fabled envelope, challenging himself and an entire industry to grow and improve. When you watch a Hitchcock film you are drawn in. Not only do you experience a masterfully designed story, you find yourself admiring the sheer quality of the piece. His films are as aesthetically pleasing as the works of Monet or Rembrandt, but function first and foremost as incredibly entertaining narratives.

After seeing Strangers, I decided to look for a book on Hitchcock. I had a biography in mind, but the library failed to have one. Instead, I found something even better. Hitchcock’s Notebooks: An Authorized and Illustrated Look Inside The Creative Mind Of Alfred Hitchcock by Dan Aulier. Though it does contain quite a bit of biographical detail, the bulk of the book concerns Hitchcock’s art and style. It delves into how he made his movies — the system he used, the way he organized the production, how he chose his material and his collaborators.

Despite finishing the book in a single linear reading, I’ve been going back to certain sections and studying them in greater detail. Most fascinating are the reproductions of storyboards. One set is Hitchcock’s own from The 39 Steps. They reveal a talented draftsman and prove that the classic Hitchcock ‘look’ — the framing and use of light — was indeed his own from the start.

Almost as revealing are side by side comparisons of screenplay drafts and personal letters to and from Hitchcock and his collaborators.

The picture of the man that emerges from the book is of an extremely polite, dedicated, intellectual and passionate artist. He made film for the sake of the film, desiring above all a quality product. He did not hesitate to accept ideas when they were better than his own and he never failed to give credit where credit was due. He made many lasting friendships and was held in high regard by nearly every professional he worked with. He was a kind and loving husband and father. He valued the opinion and instincts of his wife Alma. He treated the extraordinarily beautiful women who starred in his films as favored nieces and proteges. He was — by all accounts — an entertaining man to be around who ran his set more like a wise father than a dictator.

I highly recommend this book to any fan of movies — and Hitchcock fans in particular. The tone of the book is friendly and casual. The writing is clear, direct and detailed.

By the way, my personal favorite Hitchcock film is The Birds. Not only is it one of the very few movies to actually terrify me when I first saw it, I also consider it to be perhaps the most darkly beautiful movie ever shot.

The 2007 nominees for the Best Short story Hugo Award are all high quality work this year. I predict a tough race: I’ve read each several times and still have trouble deciding which I think is The Best. Right now I’m going with a pure sentimental favorite: Tim Pratt’s bittersweet movie fan dream-come-true alternate reality tale "Impossible Dreams".

Lucky for us fans, the authors have agreed to put their stories on line for all to see — a way to even the playing field as the Hugos are a fandom vote based award.

You pick your fave!

How To Talk To Girls At Parties   Neil Gaiman

Kin   Bruce McAllister

Impossible Dreams   Tim Pratt

Eight Episodes   Robert Reed

The House Beyond Your Sky   Benjamin Rosenbaum

The thing that’s going to make the voting especially hard is that not only are all five stories excellent, all five are excellent in wonderfully different ways. The old cliche ‘They all deserve to win’ truthfully applies here, and we’ll just have to settle for the comfortable knowledge that whichever story manages to make off with the trophy will have done so deservingly.

101+ Things To Cook Until The Revolution, a fantastic cookbook from the TCF community, is now available to order at the low price of $13 FRN’s plus shipping. I have personally tried quite a few of the recipes within and they have all been excellent. This would make a unique gift for your food n’ freedom loving friends and family. This is also the first product to be released from Outlaw Trail Media, a fine new venture that has big plans. A round of applause for TCFers Pagan, Dare2BFree and Thunder, who all worked to bring this project to market. claps